Sharing the Shenny Sauce
by Shintaro Kozu
Summary: "Use your stomach, not your mind."


**A/N Note:**

_**We are calling out to all Shenny fans and writers on this site. We cordially invite you to participate in the Shenny ships fun one-shot story share we've named Sharing the Shenny Sauce. We want all Shenny fans to come together in our shared ship. If you're willing to join in, here are some rules:**_

_**1. Search for Taco Bell Sauce Sayings and choose one you like most**_

_**2. Place the title of your story as 'Sharing the Shenny Sauce' and place your phrase in the Summary and underneath your Author's Note describing the rules (like so)**_

_**3. Your story must be a one-shot between 500-1500 words (not including the A/N)**_

_**4. Your story may be of any genre or rating (yes... ANY rating *wink wink*)**_

_**5. It MUST be a Shenny story**_

_**6. Deadline is the end of March**_

_**Let your creative juices flow and start**_** sharing!**

* * *

_"Use your stomach, not your mind."_

* * *

"Penny, while I am well aware it is our anniversary, I must refuse the offer of a home-"cooked" meal. As you should be aware of, my digestive system is very much accustomed to our regularly scheduled take-out."

Penny didn't like the finger quotes her boyfriend, Sheldon, used on "cooked," but she would be damned if she let his standard condescension throw her off her mission. Her blonde hair swished lightly as she shook her head, holding a cook-book in her right hand. Penny placed the book down on the counter in front of her, to avoid it connecting with his skull later on.

"Shouldn't today be a cause for celebration?"

"It should be a cause for celebration, Penny," Sheldon response began as he resolutely stared into her green eyes, "but not the cause of an unplanned heart-attack."

"Who said it would be unplanned?" The Nebraskan retorted, her eyes trained firmly on the man I front of her.

"I just did," Sheldon replied matter-of-factly, his long fingers clasping behind his back. Sheldon didn't even understand why they were having this exchange. It boggled Sheldon's mind that she would go against familiar grain, the very contract she signed, and offer up a meal from her kitchen. Maybe she didn't understand the Relationship Agreement she had signed?

"Need I remind you," Sheldon began as he moved a little towards his girlfriend, conveying his stern position, "that the Relationship Agreement you signed had restrictions on consumables, specifically in Article Th-"

"I know what it says," Penny snapped. As soon as she had finished those words, she knew it was a mistake. They had been together for a year now, and while they definitely had disagreements, Penny had always respected the agreement. She, at first, didn't want to sign the document Sheldon had handed her the first day they had gotten together. Normal relationships didn't need a 'Relationship Agreement.' However, as that day wore on, she realized that Sheldon's insistence on having the agreement there was his own way of trying to make certain if the uncertainties. Hell, the Whackadoodle even wrote a subsection on Surprises. Also, she realized that if she and Sheldon were going to be a thing, the relationship would be anything but normal.

"Look, sweetie," Penny began after a few seconds of silence, "We eat out every date night, and we have take-out everyday. I just thought that today should special."

The blonde's shoulders slumped as her eyes shied away from the brilliant blue hue expressed in his. Being with Sheldon meant having to make some sacrifices, and it seemed that a home-cooked meal might be the small price to pay for pairing up with this brilliant man. Penny remembered their first date, and his refusal to go anywhere but the Cheesecake Factory at precisely six o'clock. In hindsight, planning a date night for Tuesday wasn't the greatest idea if she had wanted to avoid ex-co-workers. A small smile appeared on his face as he grilled the waitress (Penny was sure she was named Jen or something.) on the proper way to cook, handle, and serve his meal. She never gave anybody a look of such intense sympathy ever before or after.

"It is special, Penny."

Sheldon's words made Penny reacquaint herself with reality. She looked up to see him stand unnaturally close, his body mere inches from hers. The clean smell of Sheldon caused her breath to hitch, and her fingertips tingled with excitement. She looked at him, her eyes wide with the realization of how close he was. Close enough to touch. She knew this wasn't easy for him, to allow her to be this close. After Amy, Sheldon had made a vow to never allow anyone that close ever again, but here Penny was. And she was so _close_.

"H-," Penny started, breathless at the, outwardly small, gesture, "How special?"

Special enough for intimacy?

Penny certainly hoped so.

Long fingers tentatively entangled themselves in hers, and Penny looked down to see the intimate gesture. His hands were cold, but Penny barely noticed, her eyes still fixed on them as if they were imaginary. When she became Sheldon's girlfriend, she thought that the lack of physical contact and sex would be an obstacle in their way, and it was. But whenever rare moments like these presented itself, it makes Penny extremely happy that she didn't have to force his hand in order touch him in anyway.

"Special enough to allow a single breach of the Relationship Agreement."

* * *

Compromise never came easy to Sheldon, and if he would have it his way, it wouldn't exist. However, as Sheldon learned a long time ago, the universe doesn't necessarily confirm to what he would like it to be. It is as mysterious, as dazzling, and as beautiful as he could ever imagine but the fact is, no one can live a life purely their own. Sheldon realized this over the course of the year, when he had asked Penny to be his. So, when he heard the defeated tone of Penny's "look, sweetie," he knew that his stance had become untenable if he wanted to keep her happy.

Surely his digestive system could, as they say, take one for the team, if it made Penny happy. Maybe she would cook something that wouldn't make his digestion scream in agony?

Sheldon couldn't have been more wrong.

His slender fingers clasped around the fork, and took a bite of the not exactly well-done steak that his girlfriend prepared. He chewed slowly, and looked at his girlfriend with an appreciative smile. Sheldon's life in Texas had given him an incredible palate for steak, and he knew that his digestion was not going to come out unscathed. Still, he kept eating. When the last bite of steak had made it's way into his stomach, Sheldon stood up, and made his way to clear his plate.

"Did you like it?" The blonde asked, as she finished putting the plates in the sink to wash another day, much to Sheldon's annoyance.

"Why yes, Penny," Sheldon responded, "Though I am sure that my stomach and intestines will not agree with my assessment of your meal, considering that the particular cut of meat is a delicacy of the-"

"Use your stomach, not your mind, sweetie."

* * *

**A/N Note: Hey everyone, Shintaro here. I know, I know, I should be working on Entropy (around four thousand words in), but I was made aware of this challenge and thought I would try my hand. I hope you enjoy it. There is OOCness, but I tried to make it plausible within the context of the relationship. I really would like to see more of these out there.**

**I hope this didn't dissapoint.**


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